Maspeth, Queens
2026
Cyanotypes made at Plank Road Public Shoreline in Queens, NY approach Newtown Creek’s water cycles as an artistic collaborator. Based in the Indigenous framework of kinship and Indigenous Feminist Theory in Critically Sovereign and Mark My Words, in which being and becoming are defined as evolving processes, I render seasonal change and the Creek’s perpetual flux through collaborative image making. Core to this definition of being and becoming is the understanding that time itself is cyclical, running counter to extractive colonial logics that approach time as a linear trajectory for development and expansion. This extractive thinking resulted in rampant industrialization along the creek shores and centuries of toxic waste, oil spills, and salty runoff, leading to its Superfund Site status as of 2009. Using light and water sensitive cyanotype paper to trace melting ice droplets, snowflakes, and the receding tide, I hope to pay homage to our ever evolving cycles and Newtown Creeks perpetual, triumphant flows. Working with cyanotypes that render movement and flux allows for these contradictory realities and opposing forces to coexist, illuminating our pivotal moment and unknown future.
Lucy Jackson 